Politics Is News, Whether Honorable Or Not

EARL MAUCKER EDITOR

September 21, 2003|EARL MAUCKER EDITOR

Q: As a candidate for public office, I feel I have been called to public service. Yet the media make it difficult with all the negative stories they write and the scrutiny they put on someone's private life. Don't you think the newspaper should do a better job of showing political office in a better light? Don't you think the media have a responsibility to make running for political office a more honorable process?

While we all wish the electoral process in a democracy could be a more honorable undertaking, we all know it's sometimes not.

And it's our job to report the reality.

Even so, Ernest-Jones made a very valid point.

He views political office as a "pure civic duty."

Yet, the media can be a major turnoff for hard-working, competent businessmen and women who would like to seek public office, but are reluctant to expose their private lives to the intense scrutiny that comes with that decision.

Few of us, no matter how honorable, want our families, finances and pasts laid open to the rest of the public. It's unsettling at best.

As a result, some of our best potential leaders simply will not seek public office and put themselves and their families through that kind of public exposure.

Have the media gone too far?

In some cases, yes.

In other cases, it could be argued the media haven't gone far enough.

Both are unfortunate consequences of living in a democracy, where the free flow of information is an essential part of open government.

But the public, quite naturally, has an intense appetite for information about those who seek to represent the public's interests.

Most would agree that a candidate's character is an important component to his or her approach to office.

Of course, the newspaper must take the responsibility to be as fair, as accurate and as balanced as we can be in reporting the background and intentions of a political candidate.

Part of our responsibility is to give our readers an honest look at the process and the candidates who seek public office.

We see it as our duty to help define the issues as the public sees them, to show how the candidates differ in the approaches to solutions, and yes, to look at candidates' backgrounds and report on their campaign practices, even if it turns ugly.

Only an informed community can make intelligent decisions.

The process of politics itself is not always honorable and that tends to taint the system.

Candidates don't agree on the issues or how to solve problems. Frequently there is a great deal of partisan politics at play.

There always are disagreements -- and, often personality clashes. On occasion, it can get downright dirty.

If the candidate is honorable, then that should be part of our reporting. But if the candidate has a questionable background, or we discover that his or her motives are suspect, then we are obligated to tell that story as well.

As my colleagues and I pointed out at the breakfast, we do many things at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that we believe demonstrate our commitment to bring sensitivity and strength to the political process and democracy itself.

On our editorial pages, we urge our readers to get involved in the political process by keeping themselves informed.

On our commentary pages, we offer space to community leaders and elected officials to help educate the public on important issues.

We also sponsor town meetings and candidate debates.

And, in our news pages, we cover races in advance, and later analyze election results thoroughly.

The process for electing our representative leaders is imperfect. We recognize that our coverage can be flawed as well.

And of course all of us, as citizens, would like to see honor in the political process.

For the newspaper, we believe complete, fair and honest reporting is the first step.